Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Goodbye 46, Hello 47

My birthday came and went without much fanfare.

Thomas and I set the posts for the new, expanded chicken run for our now, 15 chickens (sad face). After it's done, we are adding two more chicks to our brood to replace our lost Houdini and to give her a friend to grow with as well.

On Sunday, we all went out for a birthday lunch at Red Lobster to celebrate both Greg's (September 22) and my birthday's.

Thomas gave me a lovely watch --- one that I can actually read since my old one's face was getting dim. Or perhaps it's my eyes. Who knows.

And now I'm 47.

Only three more years to 50.

I cannot believe this number that is looming ahead. I really can't. It's almost surreal when you're almost there.

You imagine this day but when you're getting there, you're not really sure where the years went to while getting there.

It really does seem that I was 35 just a couple of years ago. Very odd.

I feel like I'm a 'Twilight Zone' episode where time speeds up even though it's only been a day or so.

Hmmm.....

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

A Very Fast Fishing Trip

We took a very fast trip to Utah. I mean fast. In fact, it was so fast, it seemed as though we were gone for six months. The more you pack into a small amount of time, the longer the trip seems. Must be some time continuum or something.

Any-whoo, Thomas really wanted to take the kids fishing at his old haunt, the Salt River in Afton Wyoming (or Star Valley). I was hesitant at first; after all, Dick Cheney lives there and duck hunting season is on.

Thomas assured me that we wouldn't be hit by hunters so off we went. I got to see my wonderful father on Friday. Did I mention that I love my dad? He is the greatest guy and is doing so well since Mom died. His personality has changed and he is his old, happy, laughing self again. I missed him all those years.

Daddy also loaned us his loaner truck (he was hit by some moron on 7th street) to drive to Afton on Saturday morning. Thanks Daddy!!



This is Bear Lake. The kids have never seen this part of Utah before. It was shining and blue as always. But no sight of the Bear Lake Monster, dang it.


This is a cattle drive through one of the towns. The kids were amazed at this and Felix was laughing, remembering the movie "City Slickers" that we watched on night.


This is in Afton. This arch claims to be the longest arch made out of elk horns. I'm not sure about that but my phone died, so I had no way to Google that claim to find out it's authenticity.
It was interesting however.

Dad, teaching the kids how to tie on their leader and hooks. I love this picture of my kids watching their dad. We don't get much chance to really go places together and this was a great time for us.



And here are our spoils! We caught between the four of us 7 fish. One of those was a cutthroat and the rest browns.
The kids had so much fun and I fell in the river three times. Thomas had a chance to relax for a minute and we had a chance to just walk.
And then we drove back to Utah and flew home the next morning ........ well actually just to make the trip even longer ..... we missed our morning flight because TSA thought Robee had a knife in his pack; it turned out to be a toy car. Grrr. So we didn't make it home until late Monday night.
It was a nice ending to the summer.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Our Chickens (and the end of this story is sad)

Some of you (especially if you're family) know that during the month of April, we decided to buy 16 chicks. We have been wanting fresh, organic eggs for a long time (as seen below)

and this seemed like the best way to do it without paying $3 per dozen in the store. Not to mention, we have a diverse, rainbow of colors one cannot buy in any supermarket. And once a week, we get a double yolk. That's great fun.

So we have 16 chickens now. All grown up. Pullets is what they are called. Our breeds are:
  1. 2 Lakenvelders
  2. 2 Morans
  3. 2 Barred Rocks
  4. 2 Rhode Island Reds
  5. 2 White Leghorns
  6. 2 Buff Orpingtons
  7. 2 Amarucanas
  8. 1 Gold Wynodotte
  9. 1 Blue Wynodotte

Yes. I understand that this is a lot of chickens for newbies as ourselves. But I have five grandchildren and they had to have one and you have to get a twin for those so they're not alone plus my kids each got two and I did and Thomas did and Jennifer did. Somewhere that doesn't add up but you get the picture.

So we've had a lot of fun with these birds. They really do have their own personality and I've enjoyed feeding them blackberries and watching them run to me. Owen, Felix and Robee have made it a point each day to check for eggs and let the chickens out for a run in our acreage.

Since Felix does goats, Robee decided to enter three in this year's Evergreen Fair; Goldie the Gold Wynodotte. Russy the Rhode Island Red. Houdini (named after my lovely kitty) the Buff Orpinton.

Russy and Goldie came in 4th and 3rd in their class (out of 4 and 3 birds respectively). Not great.

But Houdini came in 1st in her class (out of 21 Buff Orpingtons) as well as winning Best in Breed and Best Variety.

As you can see, Robee is all smiles with his giant rosette.

And this is our prize winning bird, Houdini. She is a big, smart, wonderfully fun bird.



And she is now dead.

This past Sunday, as I was sitting outside with the goats, we believe that a coyote hunted her down and dragged her away. We found a trail of feathers leading to her death. Luckily (since Felix was with me when I discovered this horror), the critter had carried her off to dinner.

The kids were devastated. Thomas even more so since this was his special bird.

I realize we live in a wild area and we take our chances with all these animals (our kitty suddenly Cynnamon disappeared last June) and this was a huge wake-up call.

The chickens are no longer allowed out and Thomas and I are expanding the run so that they can feel a little more free than they do now. They're so offended that we are not letting them out and they cluck at me as though they were scolding. But I will not got through that again. Too heartbreaking.

So Sunday night as I put the girls to bed, I sadly counted 15 chickens.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Three Events that I missed blogging about -- I'm so behind

Jen's Birthday (holding baby Ivy)
My darling baby boy's 10th Birthday! I love you Robee!


Our 13th Wedding Anniversary!! Those years certainly did fly by very fast!! Love you Dale!
And that's just the first week of September. I'm already exhausted.


Wednesday, September 2, 2009

I. AM. NOT. DEAD. I. JUST. SMELL. LIKE. IT.

I've been at the fair for the past six days with Felix and her goats.

We now have five of the little suckers and each has put their own smell on me as well as their fiber up my nose and in my contacts.

We lived in the motorhome with running water and electricity and it was great.

We ate fair food which costs the same as a mortgage on your home.

We sweated our brains out hauling goats back and forth between arenas.

SHE (not me) mucked out pens daily at the crack - THE CRACK - of dawn each day.

She wore clothes that didn't match and didn't take more than two showers in six days. Me too.



And we had a great time together.